Predator with Jean-Claude Van Damme

"You're an asset; an expendable asset."

Initially entitled "Hunter," Predator began after being influenced by a joke circulating through Hollywood, that after Rocky 4 was released, the only opponent left for Rocky to fight would be an alien.

The Set-Up

Jean-Claude Van Damme was originally cast as the predator; the thought being the producers could capitalize on his martial arts ability. However, due to a myriad of reasons, Van Damme was replaced with Kevin Peter Hall, and the look of the Predator was retooled. They added mandibles after director James Cameron suggested to special effects artist Stan Winston that he'd never seen a creature with mandibles. 

                

Van Damme as The Hunter

The Execution

Over the years, Predator has been a defining genre film. It's also started a franchise of its own and been part of a crossover series. Considered one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's best films, and the film which established director John McTiernan, who would release Die Hard the following year. 

What might have been

Van Damme stays with the predator and as a result, does not become a bona fide action star. Instead of beginning his career with the holy triumvirate of Bloodsport, Kickboxer, and Cyborg...

Soapbox opportunity

Van Damme or Seagal?

The key difference between the two has to do with whether the model of the hero’s journey model resonates with you. Examples of films that follow the hero’s journey: the Star Wars trilogy, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Matrix, and any Disney movie during Jeffrey Katzenberg’s tenure as the CEO. In almost all of his films, Van Damme, who follows The Hero's Journey model begins as a novice who trains with a seasoned veteran to become more efficient and accomplish his goals. In all of his movies, Seagal starts out as an already unstoppable bone-breaking machine. In Seagal’s movies, it’s the spectacle and exhibition which are enthralling; with Van Damme, it’s the catharsis and empathetic response. I will forever be a Van Damme guy, but this is not to say if any of Seagal’s films from ’88–’97 are on TV, I won’t watch from beginning to end, quoting gems like “Lady cops need boyfriends, too,” “Hey yo, F--k Nuts,” or “Now you only got half a mind.” (The last quotation is spoken by a punk after he shot a store owner. The store owner was about to fight the punk, and began his tirade by saying, “I’ve got half a mind to come out there—” (He’s subsequently cut off by a shotgun blast to his chest.) And, of course, when I was teaching, I taught one of my classes the philosophical tenet: “Chance favors the prepared mind.” This is from The Seagal film Under Siege 2.